Pokemon Sleep Development Shifts to Pokemon Works

The development team behind Pokémon Sleep, Select Button, is transitioning management responsibilities to the newly established Pokémon Works. Dive into the details of this significant change.

Pokemon Sleep Development Shifts to New Pokemon Subsidiary

From SELECT BUTTON to Pokemon Works

In a move that has caught the attention of Pokémon fans worldwide, The Pokémon Company launched Pokémon Works in March of this year. Fast forward eight months, and it's clear that Pokémon Works is set to take the helm of Pokémon Sleep's development and future updates, moving responsibilities from the mobile game developer, SELECT BUTTON.

"Until now, the development and operation of Pokémon Sleep has been a joint effort between SELECT BUTTON Co. Ltd. and The Pokémon Company, Ltd.," the developers shared through the game app, as translated by machine translation. "Moving forward, the development and operation of Pokémon Sleep will gradually shift from SELECT BUTTON to Pokémon Works."

This announcement was made via a general notice on the Japanese version of the Pokémon Sleep app. It's currently uncertain how this transition will affect the global version of the game, as the notice isn't visible in the app's News section.

Pokémon Works remains somewhat of a mystery, with little known about its ongoing projects. However, Representative Director Takuya Iwasaki's greeting on their website sheds some light, stating that Pokémon Works is "a development team born from the collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Iruka Co., Ltd."

Located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Pokémon Works shares its space with ILCA, the studio behind the 2021 Pokémon remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and a co-developer of the Pokémon HOME service. Iwasaki also mentioned Pokémon Works' contribution to Pokémon HOME.

Though their previous involvement with Pokémon projects has been limited, Pokémon Works aims to "create an experience that makes Pokémon more real... so that everyone can enjoy meeting and adventuring with Pokémon." The specifics of how this vision will be integrated into Pokémon Sleep are eagerly anticipated by fans.